Troubles at Bombardier = Troubles for Metro Vancouver

The Metro Vancouver mayors may soon foolishly acquiesce to the mayor of Surrey’s demand to build with SkyTrain instead of light rail.

Foolish, because they will remain tied to one supplier and will have to dance to the tune of Bombardier Inc., when and if new cars are ordered.

Bombardier has ills with its rail sector, with late deliveries and somewhat shoddy product, which is causing it nothing but harm to its reputation.

And how does this effect SkyTrain you say?

As Vancouver is the only customer left for the proprietary Innovia SkyTrain system, deliveries maybe spread over a long time as they will only be manufactured if Bombardier has the time to make them or Bombardier my terminate production of the Innovia vehicle altogether.

Under the terms of a $392-million contract agreed to last year, Bombardier is supposed to supply Metrolinx with 76 vehicles for the Crosstown, the $5.9-billion midtown light rail line that is currently under construction and is scheduled to open by September 2021.

In late October, Bombardier invited media to its facility outside Kingston, Ont. to demonstrate progress it had made in assembling the first vehicle. The company said at the time it would be ready to ship in November.

But according to Metrolinx, the provincial transportation agency in charge of building the Crosstown, a subsequent inspection in early December determined the car wasn’t ready.

“The vehicle required some corrections and adjustments prior to being released for shipment to Toronto,” said Metrolinx acting chief communications and public affairs officer Jamie Robinson in a statement.

“Due to constraints with shipping prior to the heavy traffic holiday season, Bombardier has informed Metrolinx that the arrival of the first vehicle is now scheduled for early 2019.”

Under the terms of the contract, the deadline for delivering the first six cars is Feb. 1.

According to Robinson’s statement, there are “significant financial penalties for Bombardier” if the company fails to supply “quality vehicles” by the deadline.

Metrolinx declined to say what the penalties are or whether it believes Bombardier will supply the six vehicles on time.

In a brief email, Bombardier spokesperson Jade St-Jean said the company is “on the right track” and “confident” it will meet the Feb. 1 deadline for all six cars.

She said the first car “was ready to be shipped in December” but as a result of the Christmas holidays it will now be sent the week of Jan. 7, 2019.

Asked to explain why the holiday would affect delivery, St-Jean said the car is being sent by truck and will require a police escort, which she suggested wouldn’t be available over the Christmas period.

The delay in supplying the first Crosstown car is the latest development in the long-running saga of the expensive vehicle purchase.

In 2010, Metrolinx placed a $770-million order with Bombardier for 182 cars, with the intention of running them on several Toronto-area light rail lines.

But in 2016, Metrolinx filed a notice of intent to terminate the deal, claiming Bombardier had missed deadlines for the delivery of the first cars.

Bombardier countered in 2017 by seeking a court injunction to prevent Metrolinx from cancelling the contract. The company alleged Metrolinx had unfairly refused to take delivery of cars, and claimed the agency wanted out of the deal because several provincial light rail projects had been either delayed or cancelled and it no longer required all 182 vehicles it had ordered.

Comments

There are 5 LRV’s ready to ship to Toronto’s Crosstown right now, they were held back due to transport restrictions the railways have during the holiday petiods. The no wide load rule during the holidays is done to minimize the need for extra crew when carrying wide, oversized and complex loads. This rule has been around for decades, Bombardier should have known that.Bombardier will ship out the first 2 LRV’s on Monday January 7, 2019 when the load restrictions are lifted. The papers just don’t like it because Bombardier kept its promise to deliver all 14 of Waterloo’s LRV’s by years end. Now the Crosstown, the TTC’s streetcars and Edmonton’s Valley Line are the big production lines at the Kingston plant. They won’t have Bombardier to kick around if Bombardier keeps delivering on time. Just keep on your toes Bombardier!